Back to School​—Why?

ROBERT’S search for employment was an exercise in frustration that lasted three long years. Finally, at age 21, he was hired as a summer-​camp counselor. While now somewhat relieved, Robert had been fatigued by the tedious job hunt. “Our parents just don’t understand,” he says. “It is a lot harder these days.”

Like Robert, countless youths fresh out of school enter the work force each year. They have hopes. They have plans. But an increasing number are finding that they cannot obtain the kind of employment they had anticipated.

Thus, many are extending their schooling.a “If the Seventies sent out a negative signal about the benefits of education,” says Fortune magazine, “the Eighties hit people over the head with a different cue: Get a degree or else.”

Why the Problem?

Why is supplementary education often necessary? First, a large number of jobs today require a higher level of skill. “The bank teller who just took deposits has been eliminated by the money machine,” says a U.S. Labor Department representative. “Now [the teller] has to advise me on three types of money market deposits and explain to me why I want this one rather than that one.” William D. Ford, chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, says: “The simple jobs are gone.”

Second, some feel that schools are not giving students an adequate education. They say that the focus on such issues as drug abuse, AIDS, and birth control overshadow the teaching of reading, writing, and arithmetic. Dr. Robert Appleton, a teacher for 27 years, laments that the school system seems to have become a “social service institution” that is under the burden of “dealing with problems that were not considered to be a part of the school.”

As a result of the failure of some schools to teach students needed skills, many high school graduates are unable to support themselves. “They haven’t been taught to work,” says Joseph W. Schroeder, manager of an office of Florida’s Job Service. “In dealing with young people the problem that employers tell me about constantly is that they can’t read or write very well. They can’t fill out a job application.”

A third reason supplementary education may be needed is that in numerous lands there is a surplus of college graduates flooding the job market. “College graduates outstrip the demand for their skills,” says The New York Times. “Given this oversupply,” the report adds, “employers are reluctant to gamble on high school graduates.”

To qualify for the type of employment needed to support themselves adequately, many are going back to school. In the United States, 59 percent continue their education beyond high school. This represents a significant increase over the 50-​percent figure that lingered for decades.

Similar trends are noted in other countries as well. For example, since the 1960’s, Britain has experienced a significant increase in the proportion of students who receive schooling beyond the compulsory limit. In one recent year, Australia saw 85 percent of those finishing high school apply for various universities and colleges. About 95 percent of Japan’s students take exams to receive an extra three years of education, where they are prepared either for a job or for college.

However, supplementary education does not always provide the benefits desired. What are the pros and cons?

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